An integrated web-based platform for the provision of personalized advice in people at high risk for CVD

Aim of the manuscript is to present an integrated web-based platform which is able to assess a person's risk to develop Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) using the Body Mass Index (BMI) as independent risk factor based on genetic and lifestyle information and in parallel to provide personalized advice in order to reduce this risk. A subject fills out a web available questionnaire regarding his/her lifestyle in terms of nutrition and food habits, while his/her biological material is send for DNA analysis. Data regarding lifestyle and genetic information are sent to a web server, in order to be used for the assessment of the subject to develop high BMI. The assessment is based on an artificial intelligence based system. The result of risk assessment is fed to a remote server where it is integrated with all values corresponding to the answers of the subject to the questionnaire. All values are transferred through the platform in an .xml file. Then, through appropriate mechanism, a report is generated as a document file (a pdf Acrobat file) which includes the result of risk assessment and the corresponding advice on lifestyle habits. Appropriate quality control actions are taken into consideration during the various processes, while access to the platform is permitted only to authenticated personnel. The latter is ensured by an authentication procedure in the user interface of the software and appropriate usernames/passwords.